Resume
Independent Consultant, Mikaela Selley Consulting
September 2021 – present
Offers research, strategic planning, archival and exhibit design services for personal, business, and cultural heritage projects. This includes; locating archival sources, providing arrangement, description, and display of personal or business records, and planning and execution of public history projects.
Program Manager, Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage, Arte Público Press, University of Houston
November 2021 - present (part-time)
Manages the workflow and implementation of the CLIR Hidden Collections grant awarded by the Council on Libraries and Information Resources. This includes:
Overseeing metadata and digitization efforts
Supervising graduate student Research Assistants
Coordinating communications with outside developers and vendors
Creating and implementing project workflows and reporting structures
Hispanic Collections Archivist, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library System
April 2013 – August 2021
Collected, preserved, and promoted the Hispanic Archival Collections.
Acquired 101.6 linear feet and 265 born-digital donations accounting for 12 new collections and 10 additions to existing collections.
Provided online access to collections material (supervised the digitization of 1,000 photographs)
Conducted and collected oral history and memory projects with the Latino community (60+ recorded interviews added to collection)
Curated exhibits with supplemental programming (4 major exhibits for display at the Julia Ideson Building Exhibit Gallery and 3 exhibits for the branch libraries)
Hosted an average of 5 programs annually and attended an estimated 10 outreach events annually
Partnered with local institutions and community organizations
Lead Supervisor for HMRC’s Oral History team, 2016 – August 2021
Created policies and procedures for collections where none existed previously
Continued collection growth and processed request for reproduction
Created HMRC’s first audio visual collections inventory and database establishing intellectual control where none existed previously
Volunteer Coordinator, 2014 - 2015
Created HMRC volunteer handbook and procedures where none existed previously.
Exhibits
Música! A History of Hispanic Sounds, August 24 – November 9, 2019
Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
Show & Tell: Stories of Houston Mujeres, September 20, 2018,
Pop-up exhibit, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
A Taste From the Archive: Mexican American Food History in Houston, September-October 2017
Central Library, Flores Neighborhood Library, Park Place Regional Library, Carnegie Neighborhood Library and Center for Learning, and Jungman Neighborhood Library
From Voter Drives to Viva Kennedy: The Latino Vote in Houston, 1930s-1960s, September-October 2016
Central Library, Flores Neighborhood Library, Park Place Regional Library, Carnegie Neighborhood Library and Center for Learning
Remembering World War II: Houston’s Latina/o Veterans, September - November 2015
Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
Northside: A Mexican American Community – Documents and Photographs from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, October 2014 – April 2015
Carnegie Neighborhood Library and Center for Learning, Houston Public Library
When Camelot Came to Houston: John F. Kennedy and the League of United Latin American Citizens, November 2013 – March 2014
Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
Houstonians at Work and Play / Faces, Places, and Spaces, June – September 2012
Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library
Virtual Programs
Archives Watch Party: Home Movies, June 2021
Created a new program series to showcase the film collections. Designed and created the video template for staff. Designed and created the first video in this series, the “Home Movies” edition.
Unique Objects from the Hispanic Collections, May 2021
Wrote script, selected materials, and presented this Instagram Story to promote unique items from the Hispanic Collections.
Consulate General of Mexico: 100 Years of Mexican American History in Houston, Nov. 2020
Curated a digital exhibit in partnership with the Office of the Consul General of Mexico in Houston to celebrate their 100th anniversary.
From Voter Drives to Viva Kennedy, November 2020
Converted a previous on-site exhibit to a digital display format and presented a promotional exhibit tour.
Vanessa Guillen Memorial Page, August 2020
Curated content for memorial page on the Houston Public Library Digital Archive webpage.
Special Projects
Hispanic & Latino History webpage, 2021
Assisted in the creation of a new webpage on the Houston Public Library’s website dedicated to Hispanic and Latino history databases and resources, a first for the library homepage.
HPL Memory Project “Pandemic & Protest,” February 2021- present
Conducted 14 remote interviews for ongoing project “Pandemic & Protest: Social Justice in the Time of COVID-19.” Edited individual audio and video clips and created metadata.
Música Oral History Project, 2019
Oral history project capturing the perspectives of musicians, DJs, music promoters, and their relatives as part of the exhibit Música! A History of Hispanic Sounds. This oral history project was conducted in partnership with Drs. Jesus J. Esparza and Guadalupe San Miguel.
Houston History Loteria, 2018
Customized game featuring images from the Hispanic Archival Collections housed at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center used as an educational tool for teaching Houston’s Latino history.
Hispanic Archival Collections webpage, 2017
Led the design of the first webpage on the Houston Public Library Digital Archive (HPLDA) dedicated to the Hispanic Archival Collections. Previously HPLDA contained minimal Hispanic content without a page to provide context for these collections.
Latino and Latina Veterans of World War II Oral History Project, 2015
In recognition of the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II, collaborated with Dr. Jesus J. Esparza, on the Latino Veterans Oral History Project. In a span of five months, 12 interviews were conducted with local Hispanic veterans of the Second World War. Each interview was filmed at the veterans’ home and is approximately one to two hours in length. The interviews captured biographical histories and the veteran experiences before, during and after the war. The interviews are permanently housed as part of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center’s Oral History Collection.
Latino and Latina Veterans of World War II Oral History Project
JFK 50th Anniversary Oral History Project, 2013
Partnered with the League of United Latin American Citizens Co. #60 (LULAC) to host an event in observance of the 50th Anniversary of the night President John F. Kennedy visited the Houston LULAC organization November 21, 1963, the president’s last night alive. Curated an exhibit of archival documents and photographs, When Camelot Came to Houston: John F. Kennedy and the League of United Latin American Citizens and captured oral histories with 8 guests at the 2013 event.
JFK-LULAC 50th Anniversary Oral History Project
Presentations & Lectures
Guest Speaker
“Where Are the Archives?” Trinity University Archives Student Advocates (TUASA), Trinity University. Virtual. November 17, 2021
“The Archivist: A Creative Career”
Dept. of English, Speaker Series: Literature Culture, Careers, University of Houston Downtown.
Virtual. November 4, 2021
Co-presenter. “Managing a Local History Museum or Multicultural Special Collection”
2019 Annual Texas Library Association Conference, Austin, Texas. April 16, 2019
“Selling Mexican Culture in Houston: A History of La Nacional Tortilla Factory”
2018 Houston Eats! Texas Gulf Coast Food in the Past, Present, and Future,
Houston, Texas. February 2-3, 2018
“Preserving and Promoting Houston’s Latina/o History at HMRC”
2017 Annual Texas State Historical Association Conference Houston, Texas. March 4, 2017
Co-presenter. “Making Spanish-Language Oral Histories Accessible through Translation and Linguistic Studies.”
2017 Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project Conference, 25th Anniversary Conference, Writing/Righting History. February 10, 2017
Panelist. “Developing a National Platform – Part II: Institutions and Latin@ Preservation”
2016 Annual Latinos in Heritage Conservation Conference, Houston, Texas. November 19, 2016
“Exhibits and Programming at Your Library”
2016 Annual Texas Libraries Association Conference, Houston, Texas. April 19, 2016
“Research in the Archive”
2016 Annual Texas Libraries Association Conference, Houston, Texas. April 20, 2016
“Outreach, Awareness, and Collaboration – Hispanic Collections at HMRC”
2015 Annual Society of Southwest Archivists Conference, Arlington, Texas. May 22, 2015
“Special Collections for Students: Helping Your Scholars Get the Most Out of Archives”
2015 Annual Texas Libraries Association Conference, Austin, Texas. April 17, 2015
“History is Not Boring: Putting Houston Students in the Archives”
2015 National Association for Chicano/a Studies – Tejas FOCO, Houston, Texas. February 27, 2015
“Hispanic Archival Collections”
2nd Annual Raza Youth Conference, Houston, Texas. November 22, 2014
“Resources from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center”
7th Annual Region IV Social Studies Conference, Houston, Texas. January 18, 2014
Published Works
Book Chapters
“Houston” Mexican American Baseball in Houston and Southeast Texas, 2017 Arcadia
“Houston’s Northside Archival Records Reveal a Unique History” Borderlines Volume 3, Fall 2015-Spring 2016. Voices Breaking Boundaries
Articles
“Digital Archive Adds 1,000 Items from Hispanic Collections”
Houston Metropolitan Research Center - History Gazette, April 2021
“HMRC Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with Música!”
Houston Metropolitan Research Center - History Gazette, July 2019
“Setting Sail for SHIP 2019”
Houston Metropolitan Research Center - History Gazette, April 2019
“HMRC Announces Online Resource for Hispanic Archival Collections”
Southwestern Archivist, August 2018, Volume 41, Issue 3
“Houston Metropolitan Research Center’s High School Internship Program”
Southwestern Archivist, August 2016, Volume 39, Issue 3.
“Houston Public Library’s Exhibit Celebrates a Mexican American Community”
Southwestern Archivist, November 2014, Volume 37, Issue 4.
“House Special: Mexican Food & Houston Politics”
Houston History Magazine, Fall 2011.
“Express Processing: Students Making Access a Priority”
Collections! A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, Spring 2010.
“Express Processing”
Southwestern Archivist, Fall 2009.
Committees
Community Advisory Committee, September 2021 – present
Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Houston
Hispanic Cultural Heritage Commission, September 2021 – present
Harris County
2022 Conference Programming Committee, October 2021 – present
Western History Association
Awards & Recognitions
Honoree
5th Annual El Aguila, La Serpiente y El Nopal Honorary Lecture Series, Museo Guadalupe Aztlan
December 16, 2021
Harris County Latinx Impact Award
Awarded by Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, Precinct 2
September 29, 2020
Certificate of Congressional Recognition for "Stories of the Northside" Event
Awarded to the Houston Metropolitan Research Center by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
June 8, 2017
Congressional Recognition for "Remembering World War II: Houston's Latino Veterans" Exhibit
Awarded to the Houston Metropolitan Research Center by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
September 17, 2015
Skills
Technical
Microsoft Office Products (Excel, Word, Power Point, Outlook, Teams)
ArchivesSpace
Basic audio/video editing (iMovie, Sony Vegas Pro, Sony Sound Forge, Adobe Premiere)
Language
English (native speaker)
Spanish (speaking: basic level proficiency | reading: intermediate level proficiency)
Education
May 2022
Certificate in Archival Management, University of North Texas
2016 - present
Certified Archivist, Academy of Certified Archivists
May 2013
M.A. Public History, University of Houston
December 2009